Jason Hsu put forth on 3/3/2011 11:03 PM:
> I may get hate-mail for saying this, but I don't recommend Debian as your first distro.
This is entirely dependent on the user's motivation for installing Linux
for the first time. If the user is after a more reliable _server_ than
Windows (or even other Linux distros), Debian is a great choice. If the
motivation is _learning_ Linux , but not relying on the box for regular
daily use immediately after installation, again, Debian is a great
choice. That it's not quite as easy as other distros is what forces one
to start learning.
This is exactly why I chose Debian as my first distro 10 years ago, on
the advice of a rabid Debian colleague. My goal was teaching myself in
a headless server environment, so I had to learn a lot about /etc/ and
apt-cache search, and apt-get install, etc, very quickly just to get the
basic system running after a compact install.
If the motivation is to "replace Windows with Linux right freak'n now!"
and be able to use the desktop GUI and applications relatively
efficiently, RIGHT NOW, then there may be better distros for this purpose.
--
Stan